


Maybe We Could Happen: A Mal/Ben Ficlet Collection

by alessandralee



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet Collection, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 10:23:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4603218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of the Mal x Ben ficlets I have written.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Open Your Eyes

Ben stumbles over a table leg, and Mal manages to steady him before he stabs himself on any sharp corners. It seems he doesn’t know the castle he was raised in quite as well as he’d always thought.

He’s pretty sure Mal is steering him towards his bedroom, though. He’s already tried squinting through the purple scarf she’s tied over his eyes, but everything just looks blurry.

“Three steps up,” she informs him, just where he thought they’d be. His confidence returns.

“You know I only have—“ he begins.

“Forty-five minutes before your meeting with Pongo about the Dalmatians’ college fund,” Mal finishes for him. “I know, and that’s plenty of time. Stop.”

He freezes in front of what he’s now positive is the door to his room. He’s taken those well-worn steps plenty of time.

The hinges of the door squeal as she pushes it open, and prods him to take a few steps forwards.

“Close your eyes,” she instructs him, as she unknots the scarf.

Ben obeys, although his curiosity has almost gotten the best of him. Whatever she has planned, she managed to get Mrs. Potts involved in luring him away after his last meeting, so it should be good.

He nearly trips and falls again, over what sounds like a wicker basket as his leg crushes it. He doesn’t remember there being a basket on his floor.

Mal spins him slightly before saying, “Okay, open your eyes.”

She doesn’t have to ask twice.

The first thing Ben notices is a very large (and slightly dented) picnic basket lying a few feet in front of him. That must be what tripped him up.

It’s half hiding a floral blanket laid out at the foot of his bed, but Ben can’t miss the sheer amount of food laid out on top of it. There’s a giant plate of finger sandwiches (more than two people could possibly eat), chips and dip, large bowls of raspberries and blackberries (it looks like Mal might have dipper into those before getting him), and a large pitcher of lemonade.

“What do you think?” Mal asks. “Is it a spread fit for a king?” Her eyes gleam with amusement.

“And at least a handful of his subjects,” Ben nods.

Mal smiles at him, and he thinks she might actually look relieved. She hides it quickly, though.

“And for dessert…” she lifts a tray off a nearby table, “I baked cookies.”

Like the rest of their indoor picnic, Mal went all out with the cookies. She baked his favorite double chocolate chip, as well as peanut butter macadamia, currant sandwich cookies, lemon bars, and sugar cookies with blue and gold frosting.

Ben leans over to kiss her on the cheek before swiping a chocolate chip.

“Maybe my next proclamation should be eating dessert first,” he jokes.

Mal rolls her eyes at the idea, but with a smile.

“Hey, my last proclamation worked out pretty well,” he reminds her through a mouth full of cookie. Then he flops down onto the picnic blanket, remembering too late that he really should be more careful about wrinkling his clothes. 

After all, he has less than 45 minutes until his next meeting.


	2. Back to School Shopping

It’s easy for Jay and Carlos to talk their way out of school supply shopping. After all, according to Mal and Evie they just make everything take too long. All they have to do is promise to be happy with whatever the girls bring back to the dorm.

They bring a lot.

It takes a few minutes to unpack everything on Carlos’s bed, but after that it’s pretty easy to tell what belongs to whom. The purple is clearly Mal’s, the blue is Evie, and the black and white is Carlos’s, which must mean the mismatch of green and yellow and gray is what they picked up Jay.

“Someone went a little overboard,” Jay comments when he notices that the purple pile is about twice as high as everyone else’s.

“Oh, it’s not all for me,” Mal carefully tucks it all into a spare plastic bag.

“Some of it’s Ben’s,” Evie elaborates.

“But Ben’s almost as committed to the color blue as Evie is,” Carlos comments.

He just favors the most blindingly bright shade of it, usually combined with an even brighter shade of gold. He’d stick out like a sore thumb back on the Isle, where everything was so drab and dark.

Mal shrugs.

“He specifically asked for purple,” Evie tells them as she tries to pull Mal’s cell phone out of her hand. “I think it’s romantic.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Mal tries to assure them.

No one’s buying it.

“Do you think he’ll try to change the official state colors?” Carlos asks.

“Yeah, I can see it now,” Jay jokes, “purple and neon green; it looks really royal.”

At this point Mal’s blushing so brightly she feels like she might spontaneously combust. She’s just glad she didn’t tell Evie that the yellow paint she bought is for putting little crowns on Ben’s supplies so that they can tell them apart.

She did pick up a little pot of neon green, though, mostly because she can’t stand all the blank space on her notebooks and folders. She just needs to come up with something a little more true to her current state than “Long live evil.”

It’s surprisingly hard to think of anything.

Instead she works on Ben’s stuff once she gets back to her room, so focused on the details that she forgets to be embarrassed when Evie notices what she’s doing.

And the next week, when she spots Ben walking down the hall with his new purple notebooks, she’s actually kind of proud.


	3. Warm Sweaters

When Ben opens the door, Mal doesn’t even bother with hello, she just makes a beeline for his dresser. It takes a few minutes of rummaging though the different drawers, but eventually she finds what he’s looking for.

She unzips her jacket and tosses it on a chair before tugging the sweater of her head. Her hairs a mess now, but at least she’s finally warm.

She sits on Ben’s bed and piles the blankets into her lap for extra warmth.

“You’re really not taking this whole changing seasons thing well, are you?” Ben looks at her like he’s studying her, like he’s mentally adding tasks to his to-do list. “Is it really that different on the Island?”

Mal shrugs. Sure, the Isle of the Lost isn’t exactly a tropical paradise. It’s always slightly too chilly and foggy and damp. It’s not a comfortable place to live. But the cold isn’t as crisp and biting as it is during autumn in Auradon.

Hence the need for sweaters. Lucky for her, Ben seems to have plenty.

“Tell me,” Mal plucks at a piece of fuzz on the sweater she just pulled on. It’s navy blue, with white reindeer and stars knitted into it, “where exactly do you buy reindeer sweaters?”

She’s teasing him, and honestly she kind of likes the sweater. First of all, it’s way warmer than her usual leather jackets, and probably a lot easier to clean. Second of all, it smells like whatever fancy soap Ben uses.

“Arendelle,” Ben answers. “They send them as diplomatic gifts every year.”

Mal nods. Reindeer sweaters from Arendelle, it makes sense.

“Am I every going to get that one back?” Ben asks.

Mal may or may not have a matching sweater with a geometric print sitting on her bed. It’s helpful when the temperature drops at night.

“Maybe in the spring,” she tells him. “Now are you ready for dinner?”

Ben holds out a hand to help her to her feet. Because his sweater’s a bit large for Mal, he gets a palmful of blue wool.

“Are you wearing that to dinner?” he asks. “It’s not purple.”

Mal pauses briefly to consider the importance of maintaining her aesthetic, then decides, “Who cares, it’s warm.”

Ben laughs, “I’m never definitely not getting that back.”

Mal shakes her head, “Probably not.”

“What if I send you some other sweaters? Ones that fit? Maybe some blankets too?” Ben’s a little concerned that she’ll slowly steal his entire wardrobe.

“Still no.”


	4. Apple Picking

Mal’s only picked a handful of bright green apples on this trip, but she thinks it’s worth losing one to get a little time alone with Ben. So she steady’s herself on the tree branch she’s climbed onto and takes aim.

Luckily the tourney coach isn’t around to see her, because her aim is perfect. The apple knocks lightly against Ben’s shoulder and he turns around. It takes him a moment to spot her, but as soon as he does, he falls back from the rest of the group.

“Want some company?” he asks from the ground.

Mal nods.

He tosses his own full bag of apples up to Mal and climbs up to join her.

“Apple picking not your thing?” he asks, nodding at her mostly empty bag.

Mal shrugs, “I ate most of them.”

She’s still adjusting to the whole having regular, healthy, meals that haven’t gone stale or rotten.

“Fair enough. Are you enjoying yourself?”

Mal considers his question. She’d thought that apple picking would feel more like work than play, but so far it’s been kind of nice. She likes spending time with her friends, she likes getting off campus, and she really likes getting to see new parts of Auradon.

“Aside from this sweater somebody foisted on me, it’s not too bad,” she replies.

Ben had told her that wearing flannel shirts and cozy sweaters was traditional for apple picking. Evie got her a purple flannel for the occasion, but she’d had to borrow a sweater of Ben’s (in a shade of gray she didn’t know he actually owned). And then when they’d shown up, no one other than Ben had been dressed appropriately.

Mal was kind of impressed that he’d tricked her like that.

“It’s a nice sweater, you should keep it,” he tells her.

Maybe she will.

Mal reaches into Ben’s bag and pulls out an apple. It’s yellow. She didn’t even know apples came in yellow. She takes a bite. It’s sweeter than the green ones, and the skin’s not as thick as some of the reds. She makes a mental note to pick some of those when they climb down.

Their friends seem to have given up on them and moved on, because Mal can only really make out the tops of Jay’s and Doug’s heads over the trees. Someone must have done something funny, though, because Mal can clearly make out Evie’s laugh.

“Do you want to catch up with them?” Ben asks.

Mal shakes her head.

“I’m good here.”


	5. Cold

“Okay, I could get used to this,” Mal admits.

But really, stargazing at the top of one of Castle Beast’s towers? How could she not like it.

Really, the only downside was the chill in the air. Mal shivered in her jacket and made a mental note to see if Evie had any patterns for coats.

“Are you cold?” Ben asks.

“A little,” Mal admits. She just hopes this doesn’t lead to Ben chivalrously offering her his letterman’s jacket. Then he’d be wearing even less than she is now.

She doesn’t want to be responsible for the king getting frostbite.

Instead, Ben reaches into the bag he brought with them. Mal thought it only contained the blanket they were sitting on, but he pulls out a large thermos and two cups.

“Hot chocolate?” he asks.

Mal nods enthusiastically. She may not have Carlos’s sweet tooth, but on a cool autumn night, hot chocolate is just the pick me up she needs.

Ben pours them each a cup and Mal uses hers to warm up her hands.

She adds gloves to her list of things to ask Evie about. Maybe she can take up knitting, try and pull her own wait with some of her clothing needs.

“A toast,” Ben suggests.

“To what?”

“To the end of all the outdoor events I have to go to, and the start of us getting to see each other more,” he says.

That sounds like fun. Mal’s managed to keep busy with school and her friends, but it would be nice to not have to wait until the middle of the night to see her boyfriend.

“What about winter banquet season? Holiday balls?” she asks. Lonnie’s already gotten Evie excited about the idea of ballgowns.

Ben sighs, “We have a couple of months before those get into full swing.” Then, more hesitantly, “And I was hoping I could talk you into accompanying me to some of them.”

After her disastrous Parents’ Weekend, and the incident with her mother and Ben’s coronation, Mal’s been doing her best to stay out of the public eye. And Ben’s respected that.

But dating the king means that, sooner or later, she’s going to have to sacrifice some of her privacy.

“I guess,” she says.

She might as well get used to it now.

“Really?” she can see Ben’s eyes light up, even in the dark.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll even enjoy it.”


	6. Bonfire

“Just so you know,” Doug says, taking a seat on the bench next to Ben, “you’re staring.”

It takes a couple seconds for Ben to even realize he’s there, but when he does, he tears his eyes away from the new girl.

“I’m just surprised she’s here,” he says lamely. “She doesn’t seem like the school spirit type.”

“But she does seem like the sneaking out type,” Doug comments. “She might not even know it’s homecoming.”

He has a point. With her purple hair and penchant for spray paint, Mal does seem like the kind of person who would show up for an illicit bonfire out on Doug’s Uncle’s farm.

He just wishes she’d use it as a chance to talk to someone other than the three friends she always surrounded by.

Someone like him,

“Also, just so you know,” Doug adds, “Audrey’s staring. Glaring. At you. Daggers.”

“We broke up,” Ben says quietly. Again. “She’s not taking it well.”

Which is weird, because she looked awfully cozy with Chad at the pep rally earlier.

“If looks could kill, I’m pretty sure you’d be on fire right now.”

For once, Ben doesn’t care. He just hopes this will be the last of his and Audrey’s breakups. The whole cycle is kind of tiring.

Ben can feel Audrey’s eye on his back, so he makes a point of not turning around. If he has to stare into the blindingly bright fire in order to be the bigger person, then he will.

“How’s the Quiz Bowl practice going?” he asks Doug.

“We have a secret weapon,” Doug confides. “Evie.”

“Evie with the blue hair?” Ben asks. Evie who ended up at Auradon high when they redrew the district lines? Evie who is best friends with Mal?

“She’s a chemistry genius,” Doug says, which is high praise coming from him. He’s got a dopey look on his face, and it’s not hard for Ben to guess why.

At least Evie seems approachable, unlike Mal. So approachable that she’s walking over right now. With Mal in tow.

Doug pales.

Ben grins.

This is his chance.


	7. Bonfire (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got seven messages requesting a second part to the ficlet in chapter 6, so I wrote one.

Ben thinks his chances are shot to hell the moment Doug opens with, “So what did you think of the American history practice rounds?”

But Evie jumps right in, analyzing Quiz Bowl questions. They move from history to geometry, and Ben finds it harder and harder to even follow what they’re talking about.

Mal can’t (or can’t be bothered to) even hide her boredom.

So Ben asks her, “Do you want to go get a drink?”

She nods enthusiastically, but Ben knows better than to think that has anything to do with him. She’s just desperate to escape.

“Is he always like that?” Mal asks once they’re out of earshot, nodding back at Doug.

Only when Evie’s around.

Ben shrugs, “Sometimes. Why? Not a big fan?”

Mal shakes her head, “Evie thinks he’s great, and he hasn’t been a total ass to her like Chad Charming, so I think he’s great, too.”

“Evie thinks he’s great?” Ben asks. He’d be a bad friend if he didn’t push for more information on that.

Mal smiles.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about that,” she admits. “I just mean that Evie really likes the Quiz Bowl team. She’s always been a little… insecure. This school, the team, Dough, they’ve all been really good for her.”

“And what about you?” Ben asks. It’s a topic he’s becoming pretty passionate about. “How’s Auradon Prep treating you?”

Technically, he’s just being hospitable. He is class President after all.

“I’m not much of a school person,” Mal says. “But you’ve got some pretty good electives.”

Well it’s good to know she doesn’t completely hate the place. He has a little bit of hope.

“Like what?” he prods. Mal doesn’t seem like she opens up very often; he’s going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

“Well, you’ve got art classes beyond freshman year,” she begins. “And home ec. Cooking, baking, sewing. Knowing I’m one period away from a kitchen makes algebra a little easier to get through.”

Ben chuckles. The art thing was pretty obvious; he’d even heard Jane mention that Mal’s the best in the class. But cooking? That one surprises him.

“You know, if you’re into art, the Homecoming committee still needs help putting up decorations for the dance tomorrow,” he suggests.

They actually don’t, but he doesn’t mind abusing his student council privileges to spend more time with her.

“I can’t,” she says. “Evie still needs to finish fitting my dress.”

“You’re going to the dance,” Ben asks, surprised. Mal frowns. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I just thought you seemed like someone who had more interesting things to do on a Saturday night.”

“Like vandalism?” Mal teases. Ben blushes; he’s certainly heard that rumor. Audrey worked really hard to spread it. “Evie wants to go, so we’re all going.”

“I guess I’ll see you there then,” Ben tells her.

They’ve now reached the table where Lonnie’s handing out cups of cider. Ben knows that Chad had a flask of something to spike it with, but he’d rather avoid a confrontation between Mal and Chad.

“Guess so,” Mal takes a cup from Lonnie with a smile. “Look, I appreciate you rescuing me from the geek speak hour, but there’s no way I’m going back.”

Ben turns around. Evie and Dough are still chatting away enthusiastically. 

When he turns around, Mal’s gone. Lonnie shrugs sympathetically and points to edges of the clearing, where she’s rejoined Carlos and Jay.

Ben sighs, and turns around to find someone else to hang out with. He doesn’t want to interrupt Doug.

Or maybe he’ll take a moment to himself. He’s a little confused and even more intrigued after her conversation with Mal.


	8. Theater AU

“It’s a tragedy,” Mal points out, not for the first time. “Blood feud, fighting, curses, death. That’s what I love about it; it’s way more intense than high school.”

Ben smiles at her, “I’m not disagreeing. It’s definitely a tragedy; I saw through ninth grade English, too. But it’s also a romance.”

“They die at the end,” she reminds him, with emphasis on the word ‘die.’

“For love!” Ben counters. Mal swears she’s never seen someone look so excited about a death scene (and she’s including the time she spends running lines in front of her mirror). “If I had to choose a way to go, it would be for love.”

Against her will, Mal finds herself giggling at his enthusiasm.

But she says, “I’d rather not die at thirteen. No love is worth that.”

Ben grins at her, “Maybe you just haven’t met the right guy yet.”

Mal’s giggles turn into a full on belly laugh.

Ben’s cute, and she certainly enjoys having him as her Romeo. But there’s no way he’s worth a painful death at the end of a rusty dagger.

But he does have her considering buying a dress to the spring semi-formal. Maybe dying for love comes after that.

“Is this your way of telling me you want to practice the kissing scene?” she teases.

It’s hard to hide how much she’s looking forward to that herself, but Mal manages to keep her composure.

Ben, on the other hand, flushes bright pink. Clearly, she’s not the only one who’s been thinking about it.


	9. YouTubers AU

“Is it weird that I’m flattered about them giving us a ship name?” Mal tilts her laptop screen so that Ben can see it better.

The portmanteau ‘Bal’ is spelled out in bold letters and filled in with a collage of the two of them.

“I’m just glad then went with Bal and not Men,” Ben jokes, getting up off Mal’s bed so he can look over her shoulder.

He almost trips over a large shopping bag in the process. Mal must be filming some kind of haul video later, because there are two smaller bags sitting next to it.

Mal scrolls through her tumblr dashboard quickly; she’s always been a faster reader than he is.

Still, he notices a general trend.

“They’re taking this well,” he comments.

Mal looks over her shoulder at him, “Out dating, you mean?”

Ben nods.

“So far so good,” Mal looks relieved. “There are a few more comments about how I looked better as a blonde, and I haven’t checked twitter yet, but I think the world’s still spinning even though Ben King is off the market.”

He rolls his eyes at her dig, and leans forward to kiss her on the cheek.

“I’m glad,” he tells her.

His fans can be a little intense, and neither one of them was sure how they’d take news of the relationship.

Twitter’s probably a mess, but the lack of death threats in Mal’s inbox makes him feel optimistic.

“Are you filming today?” he asks, nodding towards the pillows carefully arranged against Mal’s headboard. They’re only that neat when she needs to use them as a backdrop.

She nods, “Fashion haul and a Q&A video.”

“In that case, I’ll go edit in your living room, and let you get to it.”

“You’re the best,” she tells him brightly, giving him a quick peck on the lips before they both start working.


	10. Bakery AU

Ben enters the bakery just after the lunch rush has died down. He’s learned that it’s much easier to get Mal to have an actual conversation, when she’s not watching her employees out of the corner of her eye.

“So what are we having today?” he asks after the person in front of him happily exits the shop.

He already knows the answer. Mal grabs an already packed box off the counter and pushes it towards him. He takes the lavender box, embossed with the words The Witch’s Cauldron in burgundy letters, from her in exchange for a few dollar bills.

Mal rings him up, calls back to Jane or Lonnie, depending on who’s working, that she’s taking break, and follows him to their usual table.

“I have no idea what this is,” he admits once he gets the box open.

“Zucchini bread,” Mal replies. The disgust must be clear on his face because she adds, “It’s better than it sounds.”

It doesn’t look too bad, it’s actually pretty similar to the spice loaf she had him try last month. He thinks he can see dried cranberries and some sort of nut in it.

He’s still apprehensive, but Mal’s never steered him wrong before. And there’s a slice in there for her as well, so she clearly thinks it tastes good.

He stares at his slice for a moment, trying to pluck up the courage to take a bite.

“Seriously?” Mal asks, her own fork hovering above her piece. “It’s good, and you could use something a little nutritional in your life.”

“I will have you know I am a very healthy eater,” he informs her.

Except for on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he meets Mal for what she refuses to acknowledge is a date. They’ve been doing this for six months now, ever since he asked her out on a real date, and she shot him down.

“I’m not going to have to bribe you, am I?” Mal asks, when he still hasn’t eaten.

Ben likes the direction this is headed.

“That might work,” he says.

Mal rolls her eyes, but she says, “Fine, if you take on large bite of zucchini bread, I will send you home with a lemon tart, free of charge.”

Ben shakes his head, “Not good enough incentive. How about… if I eat this entire slice, you let me take you out for coffee?”

Mal is silent for a long time, and Ben starts to worry that she won’t just say no (again), she’ll kick him out and refuse to let him back in on Tuesday.

“Every last crumb,” she says eventually, although she still looks unsure.

It takes Ben all of ten seconds to finish his zucchini bread. It’s surprisingly tasty, moist and a little spicy. He considers licking the plate just to prove a point, but that’s probably overkill.

When he looks up, he’s relieved to see that Mal is now much more relaxed, like she’s adjusted to the idea of an actual date.

“The shop closes at seven, but I need to clean up


	11. "Take a deep breath."

“What do you mean she’s back?” Mal cries. She’s angry enough to scream, but her voice just breaks.

Maleficent can’t just be back. She’s been trapped as a lizard for over a year, and the only way to break that spell is a change of heart.

She’s casting black magic spells up and down the countryside, turning innocent villagers in ravens, and holing up in thorn-covered fortress. That’s not the work of a woman who’s had a change of heart.

“We had our suspicions; she went missing from her cage, but I’ve just received word of an official sighting,” Ben tells her.

Of all the things Mal imagined happening today, the worst was the first day of the dodgeball unit in PE.

Her mother’s return hadn’t even crossed Mal’s mind in months.

She can only imagine the grudge Maleficent bears for her. It’s not like they had a loving relationship before Mal reduced her to the form a three-inch long lizard.

“You had your suspicions?” Mel finds herself able to scream properly not. “You had your suspicions and you’re just sharing them now?”

It’s probably not appropriate for her to yell at Ben. He’s the king and he’s her boyfriend, and he’s never done anything without the best of intentions.

But as long as Mal is angry, she doesn’t have to be terrified. And as long as she isn’t terrified, she can hold herself together.

“I was trying to prevent this,” Ben gestures towards her. “I didn’t want you to worry if you didn’t have to.” Then, softly, “But I realize it was a bad idea, I’m sorry.”

And just like that, Mal’s anger deflates. He’s being so kind, so gentle.

She tries to hold back the first tears that form in her eyes, but it’s hopeless. It takes mere seconds for her to turn into a red-faced, sobbing mess.

And in an instant, Ben’s arms are wrapped around her, pulling her close.

“Take a deep breath,” he whispers in her ear. “It will all be okay.”

“You really think so?” Mal asks between sobs. She wants to it be, but she doesn’t see how it can.

“I do,” Ben tells hers. “You defeated her once, with just a few friends and no preparation. Now you have an entire kingdom behind you.”

It’s enough courage to calm Mal’s tears. Her future still seems fragile, but it’s at least a little less delicate than it felt moments ago.

Not because of Auradon’s military, or its scholars, or its spies, but because of people like Ben, and her new friends, and her old ones.

Whatever her mother is planning, it will be dangerous. But Mal knows she won’t have to face it alone.


End file.
